This invention relates to methods of inducing apoptosis in a cell.
Apoptosis, also known as programmed cell death, is characterized by nuclear condensation, fragmentation of DNA and cell shrinkage. Apoptosis is to be contrasted with cell necrosis, which occurs when cells swell, burst and release constituents. Necrosis is usually a cell's response to gross injury. Apoptosis, on the other hand, does not usually result in swelling of the cell, and thus does not cause inflammation and pain. For this reason, cancer researchers are quite interested in inducing apoptosis in cancer cells, as opposed to using other methods (such as chemotherapy) of destroying these cells which can involve terrible side effects.
Therefore, there is a need for a simple and efficient method of inducing apoptosis in a cell. These methods could provide the launching platform for further research into the mechanism and biochemistry of apoptosis to assist researchers in finding better and less painful methods of killing cancer cells.